Matrix of the Urge

SOUTHWEST HEALTH PROFESSIONS
EDUCATION CENTER, INC.
Training by Request

THE MATRIX OF THE URGE: SIX DIFFERENT INTENSITIES

(Can be tailored for 3-6 credit hours)

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:
This program presents an overview of the six different intensities of the urge to drink and provides methods of treatment intervention for each of the six different urges. The urge to drink is only a symptom of other deeper causal factors. The program provides an understanding of the diversity of the Matrix of the Urge; the dynamic and depth within the each intensity of the urge; as well as the attitudes, emotions and complexities associated with each of the intensities of the urge to drink. No matter what the intensity of the urge in a patient, the therapist can gain sufficient knowledge of and the application of the therapeutic tools of recovery to assist a patient in counteracting any of these six different urges. The specific intensity of the urge will determine the type of treatment needed to lift the urge. The therapist can give treatment directly to the patient's urge. The therapist can assist the patient in maintaining his or her abstinence! These intervention methods may be generalized to a variety of compulsive disorders.

PROGRAM OBJECTIVES: At the conclusion of this program, participants will be able to:

Identify the six different intensities of the urge (i.e.--no urge, mild thoughts, preoccupation, pronounced urge, violent urge, and the "clasp-on-the-mind-urge."
Differentiate which therapeutic interventions to utilize for each of the six different intensities of the urge.
Identify five tools/techniques to assist a patient in coping with the urge to drink and allow for the urge to lift.
Identify the type of support needed for each different urge (i.e.--self, social, or spiritual).
Recognize the role of the therapist in the treatment each different urge (i.e.--when to provide treatment, when to refer the patient to a self-help group and when to seek spiritual help for the patient).

FACULTY:
Wayne P. Sisson, MA, is currently the Associate Director of the Southwest Health Professions Education Center, Inc./VA Employee Education System, Prescott Center, Northern Arizona VA Healthcare System in Prescott, Arizona.
Prior to joining that program, he was an addiction therapist at the VA Medical Center's inpatient Substance Abuse Treatment Program from 1980 to 1994. He was also the program director and addiction therapist at La Casita, Inc., a residential alcohol treatment center in Tucson, Arizona from 1978 to 1980. Mr. Sisson has presented numerous continuing education programs on various aspects of substance abuse.

Wayne P. Sisson, MA
Ph (w): (928) 776-6124
Associate Director
Fax: (928) 776-6137
Email sissonway@lrn.va.gov
Southwest Health Professions Education Center, Inc.
Northern Arizona VA Health Care System (OP SEC)
500 N. Highway 89
Prescott, AZ 86313

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SOUTHWEST HEALTH PROFESSIONS EDUCATION CENTER, INC
500 N. HIGHWAY 89 (OP SEC) PRESCOTT, AZ 86313-5000
(928) 776-6124, FAX (928) 776-6137 E-MAIL sec@northlink.com
For web comments or issues contact Vicki DuHaime, sec@northlink.com